I work really long days and I work seven day weeks.

Like most-maybe all- writers, I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.

All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.

Reading was like eating alone, with that same element of bingeing.

When we humans speak, we are not merely communicating information but attempting to make an impression and achieve a goal.

What I love is how pissed off Jane Eyre is. She's in a rage for the whole novel and the payoff is she gets to marry this blind guy who's toasted his wife in the attic." -Angela Argo "Blue Angel

A lot of girls who turn into something remarkable start off as irrepressible, confident and a handful.

Like seeing a photograph of yourself as a child, encountering handwriting that you know was once yours but that now seems only dimly familiar can inspire a confrontation with the mystery of time.

We never believe we're beautiful, no matter how many times we hear it. We never believe it until someone says it in the right way.

I’ve always found that the better the book I’m reading, the smarter I feel, or, at least, the more able I am to imagine that I might, someday, become smarter.

I know a lot of Eastern Europeans, and because of what they have been through and what they have seen, they have an attitude where they are not easily fooled.

I enjoy music that is commercial.

I lost in '96, in case the word hadn't trickled out, and so I made a few commercials.

As a person who performs on stage, it's good to be emotionally open. If you mess with someone when they are in that state, it's like you're messing with an animal when it's eating.

You must be an intellectual. A normal person would never believe a thing like that.

Nobody is quite so blase and sophisticated as a boy of nineteen who is just recovering from a baby grand passion

Self-confidence is nothing more than belief in one’s ability to decide and in one’s decisions.

In college I had a weekend gig at a restaurant, a solo thing that was the best practice I could have ever had. That's where I learned to coordinate my singing and my piano playing.

I was 11 when I first said I wanted to become an actress, and everyone looked at me as if I had said I wanted to go to the moon.

What does sharing music mean? It means playing it for people.

Be an independent thinker at all times, and ignore anyone who attempts to define you in a limiting way.